Senior Software Engineer II, Network Datapath

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in California.

📋 Description

• Design, develop, and enhance high-performance network datapath software for DigitalOcean's cloud infrastructure.

• Construct and refine packet-processing and forwarding systems that prioritize throughput, latency, CPU efficiency, scalability, and reliability.

• Create networking functionality across host systems, kernel, user space, and hardware-accelerated datapaths.

• Examine packet-processing pathways and identify and eliminate bottlenecks.

• Develop software for routing, packet filtering, encapsulation, tunneling, load balancing, traffic steering, and network virtualization.

• Establish datapath observability, telemetry, debugging, and performance monitoring tools.

• Integrate software with DPUs, SmartNICs, programmable NICs, and other hardware acceleration technologies.

• Create automated testing and benchmarking frameworks.

• Investigate intricate production networking challenges, such as packet drops, latency, throughput degradation, CPU utilization, and unexpected traffic behaviors.

• Collaborate with teams across Network Infrastructure, Compute, Availability, Security, hardware, and other engineering disciplines.

• Contribute to the development of next-generation network architectures.

• Write RFCs, architecture documents, technical proposals, design documents, and implementation plans.

• Document technical decisions, trade-offs, performance characteristics, dependencies, and operational considerations.

• Participate in design reviews and offer technical guidance.

• Mentor engineers and enhance software engineering and networking practices.

• Take ownership of significant technical components from design to production.

• Utilize AI and modern engineering tools to expedite delivery.

⛳️ Requirements

• Extensive experience in designing and developing production software using C, C++, or Go.

• Strong comprehension of networking and packet processing concepts.

• Experience in developing software for Linux-based networking systems.

• Solid grasp of TCP/IP, routing, switching, VLANs, VXLAN, BGP, ECMP, NAT, load balancing, and network virtualization.

• Proficient in debugging and optimizing performance-sensitive systems.

• Understanding of Linux networking internals, including the Linux kernel networking stack, network namespaces, sockets, queues, interrupts, and NIC drivers.

• Familiarity with one or more of DPDK, XDP, eBPF, AF_XDP, or SR-IOV.

• Experience with multithreaded and concurrent software development.

• Strong understanding of performance analysis, profiling, benchmarking, and troubleshooting techniques.

• Ability to reason through complex systems involving hardware, operating systems, networking, and applications.

• Capable of independently managing projects from technical design to implementation and production deployment.

• Excellent technical writing skills, encompassing RFCs, architecture/design documents, technical proposals, and other project-related documentation.

• Strong communication abilities and capacity to collaborate effectively across engineering teams.

• Experience in developing software for DPUs, SmartNICs, IPUs, or programmable NICs.

• Understanding of the distribution of functionality between host CPUs, NICs, DPUs, and switches.

• Experience with DPU-based networking, security, storage, virtualization, or packet processing technologies.

• Familiarity with programmable datapaths such as P4, eBPF, or other programmable data-plane technologies.

• Knowledge of PCIe, DMA, queues, interrupts, RSS, offloads, and NIC hardware architecture.

🏝️ Benefits

• Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and educational pursuits.

• Access to over 10,000 courses on LinkedIn Learning.

• Employee Assistance Program.

• Opportunities for local employee meetups.

• Flexible time-off policy.

• Bonus eligibility based on both company and individual performance.

• Equity compensation, including equity grants upon hire.

• Option to engage in the Employee Stock Purchase Program.

• Competitive range of benefits tailored to local regulations and preferences.